I was lucky enough to become a fan in what was for me one of the golden stages of flamenco, from the seventies to the nineties, thirty fundamental years in the history of flamencoYou went to a summer festival and there were a dozen top names in the world. cante, the dance and the touch, like Antonio Mairena, Fosforito, Lebrijano, Matilde Coral, Manuela Carrasco, Manolo Sanlúcar, Farruco o The PaqueraYou were never bored and, even though the festival lasted seven hours, until dawn, you stayed in your chair until the round of tonás, a custom that has now been lost.
In addition to the festivals, there were the peñas flamencos, where I was able to listen to all those mentioned and many others. Young people today cannot imagine what it was like to listen to a recital by Mairena or The Hen in a peña, having them close, being able to talk to them, asking them for a cante and, if he wanted to, have dinner at the end with those great figures and talk about the soleá of The Sarneta or the Malaga one the trinity. I am what I am in the flamenco, and as I am, because I was educated in that unique, unparalleled stage in the history of flamenco.
«Knowing about flamenco It's not like knowing about cars or ghosts: it's proof of having lived in flamenco. That is, two lives, the flamenco one and the other one.
I was lucky enough to be friends with artists flamencos like Antonio Mairena, Antonio the Sevillian, Manolo Fregenal, the Girl from Puebla, Luis Rueda, Farruco, Mario Maya, Manolo Sanlúcar, Enrique Morente, Lebrija, Eduardo of Malena and so on. I am not a fan of greeting each other at a festival, a theatre or a peña, but to visit them in their homes, have dinner or lunch, and talk about art with them. In short, to learn from them and with them.
When I have been asked sometimes, with malice, where I studied flamencology, for critics, I always tell them that at the University of Flamenco, from artists and fans. In the best possible school for someone who wants to write about flamenco with a minimum of rigor and sensitivity. It is my best letter of introduction, without a doubt.
The money I have earned in this job or trade, which has not been much either, is nothing compared to the value of having been in this school, that of the flamencos, living with them, being there through thick and thin, for better and for worse. Knowing about flamenco It's not like knowing about cars or ghosts: it's proof of having lived in flamenco. That is, two lives, the flamenco one and the other one, which is sometimes a pain.
